Annabeth Moves In
by annabethchaseseyes
Summary: When Annabeth's dad is attacked by a Telkhine and put into a coma nine months before the Battle of Manhattan, Annabeth is shut out by her stepfamily and forced to move in with the Jacksons, not to mention attending Goode High School. Reviews & flames welcome, suggestions needed!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

**Annabeth's Point of View**

I walked into the hospital room of Doctor Frederick Chase, where my stepmother was clutching his hand, silently crying. Her long black hair had broken out of the ponytail holder, and mascara streaked her face. She and I had our differences, but if there was one thing I was certain of, it was that she loved her family more than the world – not including myself, of course.

It had been ten hours since a Telkhine had showed up at my doorstep in San Francisco and attacked my father. He had been walking out of the house, all worked up about some old book on World War II finally being released. He'd even left the house at five a.m in order to be the first one through the doors. His blissful grin was the last thing I remembered before a sea demon pounced on us.

I, obviously, had my knife on me and turned out fine: I was able to stab the monsters within seconds. Dad, on the other hand, had the left side of his face torn off. And he wouldn't wake up.

"Everybody recovers differently," the doctor had reassured us. "He should wake up soon."

Just then, Percy walked in, holding two king-sized Snickers bars, my favorite. When Percy heard the news about my dad during Geometry, he'd immediately ditched second period to fly out here last minute. He'd stayed in this hospital with me ever since.

Dr. Jones went on about anemia and rib fracture, which usually would have fascinated me, but right now all I could focus on was my dad and the fact that I was probably squeezing Percy's hand enough to cut off his circulation, and that I couldn't care less.

"Annabeth? Hello?" Dr. Jones asked.

"Huh?" I said, jolting back to reality.

"I asked you what your living arrangement plans are."

I looked towards my dad's wife, confused. _Won't I be staying at home? _I asked her silently.

Then I realized, of course I wouldn't be. My stepmom and I may have patched things up this winter when I was in danger, but none of that mattered now that I had put her husband in danger. There was no home for me with them.

"She'll be staying with me," a voice said. I looked up and realized it was Percy.

"What?" I asked. "N-no, I... I couldn't."

"Please, Annabeth, you're the daughter my mother never had. You're family," he replied, smiling. "Uh, unless you don't want to, um..."

"Oh, no, of course not," I said hurriedly. "Yeah. That's amazing."

"Well," Dr. Jones said, "looks like we'll need a one-way ticket to NYC."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**Annabeth's Point of View (don't worry, it'll change to Percy's during the rest of the chapter [=)**

The next few hours were a blur. It was Sally and Paul's one-year anniversary of dating, and they had plans to celebrate at a fancy French restaurant. At first they insisted they stay home with me, but Percy had already informed me the other day that Paul was planning to propose tonight, and I encouraged them to go. It'd be nice to see the birth of a family instead of the destruction of one, for once.

So Percy and I stayed. It was the last day of school for NYC, and the beginning of Christmas break, so Percy and I could basically do whatever we wanted for the rest of the night.

We were planning on enrolling me in Goode High School, Percy's school, which Paul said shouldn't be a problem, considering I was the daughter of Athena and all.

**Percy's Point of View (I apologize for the abrupt switch)**

"So," I said awkwardly. I felt terrible for Annabeth, and all I wanted to do was make this easier for her. "You want to do something tonight, or just, you know, relax a bit?"

Annabeth sighed, then stood up, and took my hand. "No. I want to go out. I seriously could use a distraction. We'll do... whatever it is people in New York do." She laughed for the first time in ages, making me smile. "Let me shower and change, and we can go whenever," she said in a carefree tone, but I knew there was still fear hidden beneath her voice.

She spent twenty minutes in our shower, twenty minutes in which I was deciding what to wear and praying I hadn't left anything embarrassing in our bathroom. But Annabeth came out looking refreshed, her hair darker and straighter than usual from the water. I let her get dressed, and she came out in a black button-down shirt ( . ?id=24596983), jeans ( . ?productId=0432_7135_885&catId=cat90120&bundleCatId=cat4860006, and her signature silver owl earrings ( listing/95172457/antique-silver-owl-earrings?ref=sr_gallery_13&ga_search_query=silver+owl+earrings&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=ZZ&ga_page=2&ga_search_type=handmade). She'd freed her hair from the messy ponytail and let it spill over her shoulders. I realized I'd never seen her without a t-shirt and pretty much the same jeans.

"Why are you staring, Seaweed Brain?" she asked. I hadn't known I was until she mentioned it. "What, do I look bad? I just put on the first thing I saw from my suitcase."

"I know you did," I said, smiling. Annabeth could throw on anything and look great, but I probably wouldn't have said that, considering how things were still a bit awkward since what happened on Mount St. Helens...

We stepped outside my small apartment building and got bitten by the December wind.

"This way!" I shouted, hugging my shoulders for warmth. We ran thirteen blocks to the cafe that supposedly served some of the best hot chocolate in Manhattan. We got large hot cocoas and blueberry waffles, in honor of the proposal we knew was taking place now.

"How is he going to do it?" Annabeth asked, popping a blueberry in her mouth. She seemed oddly perky for a girl who's dad might be dying.

"He's hiding the ring in the champagne, I think. Tacky, I know, but she won't care. It'll be the first real proposal she's received, anyways. Gabe asked her to marry him when he was drunk, and he dropped the ring in his beer can and had to smash it with a hammer to get it out."

We cracked up at that. "My dad asked his wife to marry him in a Vietnam War museum. Go figure," she said quietly. I paused for a moment before asking, "I-I thought things were getting better between you two. I mean, when we were searching for you last winter, your stepmom told us that you always had a home here."

"That was before I put her husband in danger," she replied calmly. "And in a way, I get it. My dad's in a hospital and he won't wake up, she's going to blame whoever she can. Loss can make people very irrational."

For a moment, I wondered if she was thinking about the same person as I was. Annabeth and I hadn't talked about Luke, and I didn't want to bring it up now, but I couldn't help but think that Annabeth was being fairly irrational when it came to Luke, too. I mean, I got that he was her family once, and that him and Thalia had rescued her, but he'd hurt you too many times for her to care. She deserved so much better than that traitor.

Annabeth looked down. "But, yeah. I know when I'm not wanted. And I love New York. I never got to spend much time in it. I went from Virginia and straight to Long Island. When I was in boarding school in Brooklyn we barely went off campus. But the city is so beautiful. So much space... so many architectural opportunities."

I inevitably tuned out when she began chattering excitedly about something called a massing and roof designs. I could see an old couple smiling at us. They probably assumed we were together or something. Annabeth didn't seem to notice.

"Hey!" she called out suddenly. "Look!"

She pointed out the floor-to-ceiling windows of the cafe, where it was snowing lightly outside. She grabbed my arm and pulled me outside, leaving $30 on the check.

We entered Central Park, with her still holding my arm. "Come on," she said, tugging me along, then suddenly tossing me into the snow. I lay there helplessly, and she just threw her head back and laughed loudly before hopping into the snow and joining me. I'd never seen her like that, which was strange, since her dad was lying in a hospital bed 3,000 miles away.

We made snow angels like four-year-olds and shoved each other into the snow... well, more like she shoved and I fell, but still. It made me almost forget about Annabeth's dad, or the fact that somewhere in the United States the Titan lord was preparing thousands of monsters for war.

An odd noise interrupted my thoughts. Then I realized it was Annabeth's cell phone, which was supposed to be kept off at all times. She saw the worry on my face and explained, "I... wanted to keep it on in case they called."

I nodded. We both knew who "they" were. "Hello?" Annabeth spoke into the phone.

"Oh, hi Mrs. Jackson. Okay, Sally," she said, putting my mom on speaker.

"Percy? Annabeth?" my mom slurred. I could tell she must have drunk more champagne than just the glass with the ring. "I'm getting married!" I heard Paul say, "Honey, they knew..."

"Oh," my mom said. "Well, anyways, me and Paul are gonna go to a hotel for the night. You two have fun, just make sure to sleep in separate beds! Good night!" I couldn't tell who was redder – me or Annabeth, but I prayed to the gods she wouldn't mention it again.

"You're mom must be pretty happy about the wedding to leave us on our own overnight," she said.

I shrugged. "Pretty sure she knows I don't have any mortal friends I could invite over for a party, anyways."

"Except for Rachel."

Rachel and I had spoken a few times over the first semester. As I expected, she'd plopped down next to me in the cafeteria the first few days of school, so I'd had to learn to enjoy eating my peanut butter & jelly in the public school bathrooms. After that, I kind of steered clear of Rachel. I liked her, especially after she hit Kronos with her plastic hairbrush, but she was a bit intimidating. Besides, if Annabeth knew I hung out with her on a regular basis, it might hurt our friendship.

In fact, my relationship with Annabeth had already been a bit rocky this year, after what happened to Luke. Our emails were filled with empty words. It really annoyed me that even though he had _given his body _to our enemy, she was still so defensive of him just because them and Thalia had been on the run together seven years ago. It's not like he actually cared about her anymore, unlike everyone at camp... But now her dad's illness had brought us back together, and I knew I had to be there for her now more than ever, no matter what.

"Rachel and I don't really... hang out. How about you? Make any friends in San Francisco?"

She sighed. "I go to this private school, so most of the students are rich and snobby. All they ever talk about are their beach houses, yachts, and designer clothes. They're pretty much the most boring, carefree people ever, with no substance or opinion," she complained. "But there are a couple of people who are cool – a guy and a girl, Dylan and Dylan."

It was weird to think of Annabeth having mortal friends. I remembered last winter when her stepmother had said Annabeth talked about me a lot. I wondered if she ever mentioned me to Dylans, and what she could possibly say.

I flipped open Annabeth's cell phone to check the time: 9:54. I tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey, if we leave now, we can go ice skating," I offered. She smiled again and ran towards the subway entrance. I slipped on ice trying to catch up to her.

It took us a half hour to get to the front of the line, so Annabeth bought us Nutella crêpes from a French food stand. I was sure this night would result in diabetes, and on top of the ADHD and dyslexia, we would be goners. Other people stared as we unsuccessfully attempted to wipe the Nutella off the corners of each other's lips. We only made it worse by spreading the Nutella across each other's chins, and Annabeth laughed so hard at the sight of my face that she snorted, not at all seeming as embarrassed as I was.

Finally, we rented our skates and got on the ice. It wasn't very crowded, since it was 10:45, which was good, since I learned that Annabeth didn't know how to skate. Her dad and Mrs. Chase never taught her, and the river didn't freeze in Camp Half-Blood, so I had to show her the ropes.

Apparently Annabeth wasn't just arachnophobic, since I could tell she was terrified of the people in front of us smashing her face with the heel of their ice skates. She wouldn't admit it, of course, proud as she was.

Once she got the hang of it, we were able to race and compete as we always did. Finally, they kicked us out at midnight, and at that point, we were freezing. We stood in the snow, looking out at the skyline, when I heard Annabeth's teeth chatter. I realized only then that she wasn't wearing a jacket, and her sleeveless shirt was covered in snow, although she didn't really seem to care

In an impulsive move, I took off my faded jean jacket and passed it to my friend. I probably would've put it on her myself, but I figured that'd be pretty awkward and date-like. "Thanks," she said gratefully, wrapping the jacket around her arms. I was ashamed to admit she looked better in it than I did.

When we got home, we ordered the only thing open: 24-hour Chinese-Indian food from the place next door and popped in one of Paul's cheesy-looking 80's rom coms. We laughed over the stupidity of the movie as I devoured the naan bread and Annabeth attacked her dumplings. For a thin girl, she sure liked to eat.

We kept putting in DVD's until who-knows-when in the night. It wasn't until morning that I realized we'd fallen asleep in each other's arms.

**Guys, I really want some suggestions from you about what should happen next! They would be greatly appreciated!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**Annabeth's Point of View**

The next two weeks were hectic and confusing, in a peaceful way, if that made any sense. Percy and I ran around doing last-minute Christmas-shopping, running around Target and Barnes & Noble, and generally causing chaos in other NYC depots. We encountered a Telekhine lurking around a Stop N' Shop at one point, and I had to discretely use my Yankees cap and stab it with my knife from behind. I wondered what the mortals had seen. Probably just some bizarre Christmas display of gold glitter.

The hospital called three times: first, to let me know that Dad was still unresponsive, the second time to tell me that they were going to have to perform surgery, and the third to pass on a message from Mrs. Chase letting me know that I wasn't welcome back for the holidays. As if I'd actually return. I wasn't going to lower myself for begging for her forgiveness – she didn't deserve it. Besides, I would rather have a real Christmas with the Jacksons than spend an hour in a depressing hospital room with my dying father and his detestable wife.

Every time somebody mentioned my family situation, Sally got a forlorn look on her face, and I immediately felt guilty. Not because I thought that what had happened to Dad was really my fault, but I knew that my presence was untimely. Even though I knew Sally looked at me like a daughter, I was afraid that I was crushing the joy she should be having about her wedding planning.

I knew Percy was still a bit nervous about getting a new stepdad, especially after his awful experience with that guy Gabe Ugliano (Zeus – not – rest his soul).

"I mean," Percy told me as we ate breakfast by ourselves one morning, "I know that Paul is going to be really great to my Mom and stuff. It's just, it's been me and her for so long, you know? Even when Gabe was around, we were pretty independent of him."

I passed Percy the bowl of blueberries. "I don't exactly have any comforting words. I mean, when my dad married a mortal, things didn't turn out too well. But Paul's a great guy, not anything like my stepmom. You guys should be fine."

Percy stared at his toast. "I… I really didn't think your stepmom would do this, you know. I mean, I know you guys had a bad relationship a while ago, but I'd thought you'd gotten over it after last winter. Your stepmom had really seemed to care what happened to you. Maybe she's just in grief, and she'll accept you after your dad wakes up."

I poured milk heatedly over my Cheerios, making them crackle and crunch. "Don't say that. We don't know that he'll wake up, and there's an even lesser chance that that woman will ever accept me into her family. I'm an outcast to them. Might as well not get our hopes up, right?"

He didn't say anything after that, only focused on his milk. I knew that Percy knew he couldn't guarantee me that everything would be okay with my dad, because even optimistic Seaweed Brain had been through enough trauma to know that nothing is ever a fairy tale ending.

**Christmas Morning**

I awoke to the shrieks of people running into my room. I rubbed my eyes and saw Percy and Sally standing in my doorway in their pajamas, smiling, while Paul ran towards me like a little boy and hopped on my (Percy's) bed.

"_Anniebeth!_" Paul squealed, using the nickname he'd thought up for me over the past couple of weeks. Him and I had become friends. We had a lot in common, since he was a teacher and all, and I was a daughter of Athena (Percy had obviously explained to Paul about… us a few months ago). Percy had rolled his eyes whenever we got into some excited chatter over some novel (I wasn't just into architecture). One of our shared favorite fiction authors was Jodi Picoult, and we sort of had our own miniature book club. He'd also been there as a sort of fatherly figure for me, which helped a lot, and I could tell Percy was relieved.

"Come, on, presents are here!" Paul screeched happily. I checked the alarm clock: 5:45 a.m. I hopped out of bed excitedly without bothering to change out of my t-shirt and Percy's old flannel pajama bottoms, which were surprisingly very comfortable.

As we unwrapped our stockings to find mini Reeses Peanut Butter Cups (amongst other chocolate delicacies) and small gifts, I simultaneously cooked up some hot chocolate and bacon, smiling contently. The Jacksons were laughing and yelling and eating, but I was happy just to be with them.

We did rock-paper-scissors to decide who would open their first present, Sally being the winner. She opened mine: a receipt for the flower arrangements she'd been lusting over for her wedding that they couldn't afford. "Annabeth… these must have cost you a fortune!" she said, but she still clutched he receipt like it was her lifeline.

Paul got books, mugs, and shirts from us, and Sally also received a dress from Paul and an antique blue vase from Percy.

I'd wrapped my present to Percy in sea green wrapping paper covered in tridents. He laughed hysterically when he opened it and found a mug labeled "WORLD'S WORST SEAWEED BRAIN", along with a lavender box filled with a collection of rare seashells from Poseidon's underwater realm. Percy laughed as he handed me my present – an architecture book I'd been lusting after for months not, plus an orange t-shirt similar to camp's that read "WISE GIRL".

For the rest of the day, the four of us played at being a real family, although we were the farthest thing from it. We ate blueberry pancakes with blueberry butter and blueberry syrup, and blueberry smoothies [a/n: This is actually what I eat...]. We went out to a fancy restaurant downtown for dinner, where we were clearly out of place. I guess our new shirts, not to mention the ruckus we were making, didn't exactly mix with yuppies and hors d'oeuvres.

Christmas day flew by fast, and was unlike any other I'd had. With my biological family, I'd always felt as though my father and stepfamily were the ones that were really related, and I was an outsider looking in. When I was a year-rounder, holidays at camp were great, of course – camp was my home, after all – but it always felt like something was _missing_. And I hated puzzles I couldn't solve.

But by the end of the night, when I was back in the same pajamas I'd begun the day with, with only my thoughts for company, inevitable dread washed over me. In only one week, eight hours, and twenty-two minutes, I would have to face the redheaded mortal girl again: Rachel Elizabeth Dare.

**So it's all good in the mortal world for now, but don't worry, soon all the good mythological monsters & stuff will come in. Suggestions, anyone?**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**Guys, I am SO SO sorry for not updating sooner! I had the end of school, running three blogs + applying for Annabeth Chase in a role playing game, and I visited my friend in Chicago and forgot my Percy Jackson notebook which held a part of Chapter 4. But I hope to write more when I go on vacation this week! **

**Percy's Point of View**

I always hated the end of vacations. The thought of waking up at six a.m every morning for five days a week, facing teachers, and _homework _made me gag.

I thought about this in the shower on the first day back at Goode. It'd be nice to know Annabeth would be here with me this semester, though. We'd never been to the same school together, and I always missed her during the year.

I was worried, too, though. I hoped Annabeth would fit in – after all, she had gone to a fancy private school in San Francisco. I also thought that by seeing what I was like in class, she might see how stupid I actually was. And what happened when two demigods were in the same mortal are at the same time? Would we attract monsters? Most of all, I feared of what would happen when she saw Rachel again. Rachel didn't even know Annabeth was in NYC again, and I really didn't want them lashing out at each other all year. For some reason, Annabeth was never herself around Rachel.

I grabbed a towel and stepped out of the shower. I dried off and put on a pair of boxers. I stopped to survey myself in the mirror. I looked almost exactly the same as I had three years ago when I found out my father was Poseidon, except I'd grown a few inches and some muscle from fighting monsters and training.

Anyways, I finished getting dressed and went to grab a pair of shoes from my/Annabeth's room. Of course, being the idiot I was I forgot to knock. I heard a yelp as I stepped into the bedroom.

My best friend was standing in the middle of my room wearing a dark gray bra and skinny jeans. Her tangled blonde hair was darker from her shower, and was dripping down her tan stomach.

Of course, I only caught a glimpse of this, since I walked out of the door three seconds after I'd entered. Annabeth followed me into the kitchen seconds later, now wearing a light blue shirt with buttons on the top, the same jeans she'd been in moments ago, and black ankle socks. I could tell she was trying not to laugh.

The four of us ate our Rice Krispies throughout an awkward silence. "Percy, are you okay?" my mom asked, feeling my forehead. "You're burning up!"

Annabeth laughed quietly, staring into her cereal bowl. I couldn't tell if it was at the situation or at me.

"I-I'm fine, Mom," I mumbled, avoiding Annabeth's gaze. Truthfully, I was in a bit of...shock. It didn't make sense, but I'd never pictured Annabeth as even owning a bra. That might sound ridiculous, since Annabeth was a girl and most likely what my mom would call a "b cup", but the idea of her wearing underwear seemed really feminine to me, like something only the Aphrodite cabin would own.

It wasn't as if I'd never took notice to Annabeth's body. She'd been my best friend for years, and we'd been in several situations where we'd had to sleep together, adventured together for days without showering, and other "close" situations. Still, I'd never... thought about what was underneath.

But clearly, Annabeth found the whole thing hilarious. She even joked about it on the bus. "Come on, Seaweed Brain," she said, punching my arm. "It's all over now, you can open your eyes now, okay?" She said it as though she might have thought I'd been grossed out by seeing her without her shirt on.

We reached Goode at 7:45 a.m. A bunch of kids were crowded around the building, riding around on skateboards and hugging friends they hadn't seen in weeks. Annabeth took a deep breath, like she was preparing to face a new school... again.

She and I were standing in the middle of the street, watching all the commotion, when Annabeth spotted a truck speeding towards us. She yanked me onto the sidewalk, and we toppled onto a familiar redheaded girl.

**Annabeth's Point of View**

Rachel was wearing a Harvard sweatshirt, light blue jeans stained with a crazy number of rips in them and paint stains, and black Vans. Even with her obliterated jeans and frizzy, messy hair, she managed to look good.

Percy muttered an apology to Rachel, avoiding eye contact with the both of us. Rachel smiled gently at me, like she was trying to read my expression. "Well, I'm assuming there are more skeleton soldiers or she-vampires in town? Or, ooh, let me guess, we have to go fight that demented blonde boy?" she chattered excitedly.

I glared at her. "_We _don't have to do anything with you, mortal. And by the way, that "blonde boy" is named Luke, and he isn't demented. His body's been abducted," I spat.

Rachel nodded thoughtfully. "Right, I remember, you liked to defend him," she said.

I started to shout something, but Percy interrupted me. "Annabeth's staying in the city for... a while, while her father's in the hospital," he explained awkwardly.

Now it was Seaweed Brain's turn to receive a death stare. It wasn't his job to go around letting everyone here know what happened to my dad.

Rachel's smile fell, and she began to say, "Annabeth, I- I didn't-"

"Whatever," I mumbled, walking past her and into the building. I could feel them trailing behind me. So this year would be just like any other.

Thankfully, I didn't share any classes for the first five periods with Percy or Rachel, so I was able to focus on catching up with the rest of the ninth grade. Goode wasn't too different from any private school I'd attended. I loved most of the classes, especially Paul's. Percy was luckier than he knew to be getting a stepdad like him.

I made sure that I got home before Percy, needing some time to clear my head. I walked in on Paul and Sally kissing passionately on the couch. They only saw me for a split second, because before they could explain anything, I just smiled and walked into Percy's room.

I was lying on Percy's bed, which smelled like it'd been sprayed with a sea breeze air freshener, but I knew that it was just his natural scent, and I missed it. I remembered all the times we'd slept together on quests, and how his ocean aroma always comforted her when they were on the run. She missed the days when, even when being chased by monsters or worse, everything was so simple. Because they would always be there for each other.

Percy entered the room wordlessly, and laid down in the bed next to her, staring at the ceiling, which was odd, considering he was ADHD and usually couldn't tolerate sitting in a seat for over fifteen seconds.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

**Percy's Point of View**

"Thalia!" Annabeth cried ecstatically. The Huntress jumped over my bed to Annabeth, who was grinning like a mad woman, and attacked her with a bear hug. Thalia leveled her bow and nodded to Paul and Sally, who's eyes were still fixated on the broken window.

I'd grown to be the same height as her, and I was disturbed to realize that she would stay 5"5 forever. Her short jet black hair, a signature trait for children of the Big Three, had grown down to her chin and become choppier, like she'd hacked at it with scissors at the dinner table. Today, she wore the traditional silver circlet that all of Artemis's lieutenants bore, including our late friend Zoë Nightshade, daughter of Atlas.

"Hey, Seaweed Brain," Thalia said playfully. "Lots of monsters attack you without me protecting your mortal butt?"

I wanted to argue that she was just as mortal as I was, but I realized that would be a lie. Which reminded me...

"Hold on, where's the rest of the Hunters? Aren't you supposed to be traveling with them 24/7?" I asked. "And what are you doing here in the first place?"

Thalia laughed. "Wow, I feel so welcome." But her smile faded quickly. "I'm on this adventure alone – orders from Artemis. Being in the Hunters has been harder than usual since I joined. Lady Artemis and Chiron have been collaborating, somehow, to figure out how the Hunters can help fight the Titans."

A small wave of guilt washed over me. Since we'd "defeated" the Titan Army in the Battle of the Labyrinth six months ago, I hadn't done anything to help the cause at all. Grover had been racing around the country in an attempt to scrounge up any half-bloods that he could find, Annabeth had kept an eye on Mount Tam in San Francisco and had fended off dozens of monsters, and Tyson had forged thousands of weapons in Poseidon's realm. And I, well, I'd... gotten a D+ on my History midterm and almost blew up my Physics lab.

"The Hunters are in Rhode Island, waging war on some former KKK members," she explained.

"Nazis?"

"Also known as giants."

"I've heard crazier."

"So, where does that leave you?" Annabeth asked.

Thalia dropped her shield, Aegis, on my bed, which freaked my mother out and drove her out of the room. Paul, never having seen Medusa's head like she had, looked confused. "So, I'm assuming that you're one of Percy's mythological half-god friends, right?" he asked.

"Do I look like a _myth_? I'm right here, aren't I?"

"Well, technically speaking, you could—"

"Nevermind," I interrupted him. "What _are _you doing here?"

"I need your help," she said. "It's Luk—Kronos."

I growled at the name of my enemy/grandfather. "What about him?"

Thalia sucked in a deep breath and faced Annabeth. "He's taken your stepmother."

**ΔΔΔ**

**Annabeth's Point of View**

My first reaction was to leave my father's wife, Winnie, to be devoured by the Lastrogyians. Besides, it was clearly a trap planned by Kronos. He thought that he could lure Percy in by taking my relatives. Maybe he'd run out of companions of Percy to hold hostage.

I told this to Thalia, but she argued, "Annabeth, you wouldn't just be doing this for your stepmom. Think about how devastated your father would be if he woke up and saw that his beloved wife was dead, and you'd done nothing about it?"

For the first time in my life, I got angry at Thalia. "Look," I said, standing up, "I don't need their approval. I'm not going to risk losing you two for a woman who has treated me like dirt practically my whole life."

"Annabeth," Percy said gently. "I'm not sure why he's doing this instead of preparing more for the war, but if we don't do anything to save her, Kronos is just going to come to us sooner or later. We're already in danger."

"But..." I said exasperatedly. "We haven't even spoken to Chiron! What if he doesn't approve?"

"There isn't time, Annabeth!" Thalia exclaimed. "We can Iris Message him later!"

I pretended to mull it over, although I knew there was no hope in arguing with the two children of the Big Three. If I didn't agree, Percy would just save Winnie himself, and that was the last thing I wanted him doing.

"Fine," I grumbled, reaching for my backpack to begin packing: ambrosia squares, a thermos full of nectar, a change of clothes, and the little money I had. Percy did the same.

"Hold on," Paul said. "Um, this... adventure of yours may present some problems."

"What?" Percy asked him.

"You see... Sally and I have pushed the wedding date back to two weeks. We – we just figured, with this talk of a war coming up and all, we want to have our wedding before you have to... do what you gotta do with this Titan lord thing."

Thalia sighed. "We'll try and make it back within a week for the wedding." Quests rarely lasted longer than that.

As I pushed my knife back into it's sheath, I asked Thalia, "So, what's your master plan for reaching San Francisco?"

"Well, we obviously can't _fly_," she said, glaring at me like it was my fault her father was the lord of the sky and still wanted to cook me into eagle food. "So I figured we would drive my care as far as we could get before inevitably getting attacked by a monster of some sort as we always do and then figuring out some other form of transportation. As we always do."

I smiled a little, remembering the months Thalia, Luke and I spent running around and fending off monsters. I suddenly flashbacked to eight years ago, on a starry winter night.

_Thalia was already conked out, resting her head against a tree and snoring loudly. Luke had placed her large tattered leather jacket over her Ramones t-shirt to keep her warm in the 40º weather. I would never admit it, but I was sometimes a little jealous of how Luke cared for Thalia, like a lover and not a sister. _

_I warmed when he wrapped his arm around my shoulders and grinned, looking up at the sky._

"_Astraeus, Titan god of the stars. Now that's something I could worship," he said softly. Luke was constantly cursing the gods, dubbing them evil totalitarians who couldn't care less about their own offspring. "It's time for a new era," he said. Thalia had little love for her father, too, who had done nothing to help her when her alcoholic mother verbally abused her, or showed up drunk to every school event, or left her to film movies. _

"_But if it weren't for Zeus, there would be no sky to hold stars at all," I countered. As much as I hated how little my friends' godly parents did for them, I couldn't say the same about my own mother. She'd guided me to safety, and was the reason why I had found the demigods in the first place._

_Luke turned to face me. "Someday, Annie, we won't have to be under the control of these "supreme beings". It'll be just us, changing the world as we always will. You, me, and Thalia. A family. I promise."_

"But we're all underage." Percy's voice jolted me back to reality.

"Percy, I was born in 1988. Technically, that makes me 19, in mortal terms. I have a license."

Percy hefted his pack to his shoulders and walked towards the bedroom door, and we followed.

"Wait!"

We all turned to face Paul. He dropped his arms. "What about school?"

We stared at him with blank faces.

After a moment, he said, "Never mind, go on. I'll explain to Sally," waving us along.

We ran out of the apartment without saying goodbye. As we stepped out of the building doors and into Manhattan, I put my hand on my dagger. I had a feeling it wouldn't be long before I had to use it.

**Sooo, what did you think? I honestly did **_**not **_**think I would put them on a quest when I began writing this. I figured I would just have drama in school and then Paul and Sally's wedding and then some other stuff. But people wanted me to include some action in this, so here we go! **

**Also, although today Thalia would be technically 22, this was set six months before TLO, which makes it 2009. **

**Review! **


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